Security of Information

Social networking sites and companies gather large amounts of information and personal data from users. It is imperative that the information is handled safely and with respect to privacy. One who uses Facebook might be opening him/herself up to the outside world, but the extent to which they are exposed should be variable and any use of personal data should be requested first.

There are issues to consider:

-Does the company who runs the social networking site have internal security? Does its employees have secure passwords, are they trained to log off when they go home from work? A hacker breaking into MySpace's databanks would have a huge amount of personal information.

-Does the site give users the option to control who sees private information, can the user reasonably trust the site to hold their private information without giving it away without consent?

-How do marketers use the personal information of people on the app? Even if basic measures are used to stop marketing, what is stopping a company from setting up an account and attracting friends to gain advertising information? Is this honest, competitive advertising or is it something unconscionable?

-There is also the issue of paedophiles and criminals who might stalk and track down people on these sites. Are there parental controls on the site, is there advice available for young kids who may use the site, or adults who may try and organize a blind date from the site?

When these companies hold so much private data, we must ask how safe it is and how it is managed.

Here is one interesting article you might like to read, scroll down to the Technological Ethics part.

Pranee, C. (2010). MARKETING ETHICAL IMPLICATION & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. International Journal of Organizational Innovation, 2(3), PP. 6-22.